Steep & Sip

Raise a glass to spring and whip up these tea-infused cocktails created by local mixologists

The Silvia Tcherassi Spritz and The Spring Jewel Cocktails, Jules Aron, Photography and styling by Ashley Meyer

Drink expert and holistic nutritionist Jules Aron is the founder of The Healthy Bartender, a platform that advocates mindful drinking. Commissioned by the Kirna Zabête boutique to create libations to complement Silvia Tcherassi’s new spring collection, Aron crafted The Silvia Tcherassi Spritz, a sparkling lychee cocktail that includes blue matcha powder. In addition, as the beverage director for Seed Food and Wine, Aron had the opportunity to make a signature pour for a dinner with the Fort Lauderdale Food and Wine Festival. The result was The Spring Jewel, a blend of gin, lemon juice, grapefruit soda, and a homemade botanical cordial featuring teas such as chamomile and lavender.

The Silvia Tcherassi Spritz, Jules Aron

½ cup lychee juice

½ cup organic agave or preferred natural sweetener

½ tsp. blue matcha powder

To make the lychee syrup, add all ingredients to a pot and simmer just under boiling point. Let infuse for at least 1 hour. Strain into a glass jar or bottle with closure. Keep refrigerated for up to a month.

2 oz. Spring 44 Vodka

½ oz. lime juice

½ oz. homemade lychee syrup

4 oz. Fever Tree sparkling yuzu

Add all ingredients except the soda into a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a glass with fresh ice. Top with sparkling yuzu soda.

The Spring Jewel, Jules Aron

¼ cup blend of butterfly pea, rose, chamomile, and lavender teas

1 cup water

1 cup organic agave or preferred natural sweetener

To make the botanical cordial, add all ingredients to a pot and simmer just under boiling point. Let infuse for at least 1 hour. Strain into a glass jar or bottle with closure. Keep refrigerated for up to a month.

2 oz. Spring 44 Gin

½ oz. lemon juice

½ oz. homemade botanical cordial

2 oz. Fever Tree grapefruit soda

blend of dried flower petals to garnish

Add all ingredients except the soda in a shaker with ice. Shake and strain into a chilled glass. Top with grapefruit soda. Garnish with a rim of dried flower petals.

Open Heart Elixir, Angela Dugan, Kapow! Noodle Bar, photography and styling by Ashley Meyer

 

A holistic nutritionist and herbalist by day, and craft cocktail mixologist by night, Angela Dugan is driven by her passion to live a flavorful yet healthy life. Together with her husband, Vaughan, she has opened restaurants and developed a line of tonics and bitters called Dugan & Dame. Dugan also oversees the cocktail program at Kapow! Noodle Bar, which operates locations in West Palm Beach and Boca Raton. Her Open Heart Elixir combines Dugan & Dame Lady Gray Bitters with matcha, green chartreuse, gin, unsweetened coconut milk, and a signature open-heart syrup of Hawthorn, hibiscus, and rose.

Open Heart Elixir, Angela Dugan, Dugan & Dame, Kapow Noodle Bar

1/3 cup rose hips

1/3 cup hawthorn berries

1/4 cup hibiscus flowers

4 cups water

Sugar

To make the Open Heart Syrup, combine all ingredients except sugar in a saucepan. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Strain out and measure liquid. Add equal amounts of sugar to the liquid and stir until dissolved. Store refrigerated.

2 oz. unsweetened coconut milk

1 ½ oz. Waterloo Old Yaupon Gin

¼ oz. Green Chartreuse

1 scoop matcha

4-5 dashes Dugan and Dame Lady Gray Bitters

Rose buds for garnish

Combine Open Heart Syrup and coconut milk into a shaker with ice and shake. Strain into a glass over fresh ice. In a clean shaker combine gin, chartreuse, matcha, and bitters and shake. Layer into glass on top of the first ingredients. Garnish with rose buds.

Calm Waters, Hauk Cornell, Galley at the Hilton West PAlm Beach, photography and styling by Ashley Meyer

For this chai-inspired cocktail, lead bartender Hauk Cornell sought a harmonious balance between spice-oriented tea and herbal tea. He used his own chai spice mix as the base tea and paired it with a Canadian maple whiskey to complement the rich flavors. A syrup made from lemongrass and hibiscus flowers yields undertones of fresh florals and bright lemon. The blue color comes from oat milk, which Cornell steeped with butterfly pea flowers. The best part: The cocktail can be enjoyed on ice or heated and served warm. 

Calm Waters, Hauk Cornell, Galley at the Hilton West Palm Beach

1 ½ oz. Tap 357 Canadian Maple Whiskey

¾ oz. spiced tea blend/Bombay chai tea (use 2 bags for stronger flavor)

¾ oz. hibiscus and lemongrass syrup

1 oz. butterfly pea flower oat milk/regular oat milk (or to taste)

Orange wheel and edible flowers for garnish

Shake the whiskey, tea, and syrup together in a shaker filled with ice. Add fresh ice into a 10-ounce glass. Pour desired amount of oat milk. Strain into glass. 

Sake Mojito and Tokyo Sour, Vincent Toscano, Nomad by Sean Rush, photography and styling by ashley meyer

Artist and designer Sean Rush is known for transforming spaces into timeless sanctuaries suitable for modern living. At his West Palm Beach art and wine lounge, Nomad, Rush offers an array of hand-selected wines as well as a curated menu of globally inspired tapas and cocktails. The Nomad Sake Mojito, by mixologist Vincent Toscano,  begins with mint muddled with a raspberry tea–infused simple syrup, before adding sake and lime juice. It’s topped with ginger beer and finished with a mint sprig, lime twist, and fresh raspberries. The Nomad Tokyo Sour, also by Toscano, marries a hibiscus simple syrup with a whole egg white, lemon juice, and sake, garnished with an edible flower and dragon fruit.

Nomad Sake Mojito, Vincent Toscano, Nomad by Sean Rush

3 mint leaves

½ oz. raspberry tea–infused simple syrup

2 oz. sake

¾ oz. lime juice, freshly squeezed

Ginger beer

Mint sprig, lime twist, and fresh raspberries to garnish

Lightly muddle the mint with the simple syrup in a shaker. Add the sake, lime juice, and ice, and give it a brief shake. Strain into a highball glass over fresh ice. Top with the ginger beer. Garnish with a mint sprig, a lime twist, and fresh raspberries.

Nomad Tokyo Sour, Vincent Toscano, Nomad by Sean Rush

1 whole egg white

1 oz. lemon juice

2 oz. sake

½ oz. hibiscus-infused simple syrup

Edible flower and dragon fruit to garnish

Shake all ingredients first without ice and then again with ice. Double strain through a fine mesh strainer into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with an edible flower and dragon fruit. 

Petal Pusher, Rachel Amato, The Parched Pig, Photography and Styling by Ashley Meyer

As a mixologist at Palm Beach Gardens watering hole The Parched Pig, Rachel Amato takes cues from art and the seasons when creating a new cocktail. For the Petal Pusher, she was inspired by springtime in South Florida, when cool mornings give way to sunny afternoons before transitioning into breezy evenings when open windows are de rigueur. Amato begins with Lady Grey a la Crème tea–infused Gray Whale Gin and then incorporates Velvet Falernum, a cucumber lavender shrub, oleo syrup, lemon juice, aquafaba, vanilla extract, and lavender bitters. The result is a refreshing and beautiful tipple ideal for a spring day.

Petal Pusher, Rachel Amato, The Parched Pig

3 coins of fresh ginger

3 drops vanilla extract

1 dash lavender bitters

¾ oz. fresh lemon juice

½ oz. cucumber and lavender shrub

½ oz. oleo syrup

1 oz. aquafaba (chickpea juice)

½ oz. Velvet Falernum

2 oz. Lady Gray a la Crème tea-infused Gray Whale Gin

Edibles flowers to garnish

Muddle ginger in a cocktail tin. Add vanilla extract and lavender bitters. Continue building the cocktail by adding the lemon juice, cucumber and lavender shrub, oleo syrup, aquafaba, Velvet Falernum, and Gray Whale Gin. Fill tin with ice and shake until desired dilution is achieved. Double strain into a glass and add ice. Garnish with edible flowers.

Credits: 

Photography and styling by Ashley Meyer

Principal props provided by Nomad by Sean Rush, West Palm Beach

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